Tag Archives: Home improvement

When I ask my son, “how do you want your new room to look?” his reply is, “Meh, I don’t care.”

And yet, twice now he has shown me concept rooms and artwork at Ikea that he likes. Decorating for this boy has been a challenge because he has so many interests. He loves WWII history, Science, Comics, some new weird music that I don’t get, and Formula One racing.

It doesn’t all fit together, and he seems to prefer an industrial/modern style with bright (mostly) primary colors.

So, I took his lead by creating a design using his favorite piece of art that he purchased with his own money from Ikea about 2 years ago.

From this one item (and a similar print from Ikea that he likes) I came up with this room design:

The Items

1. Inspiration Art work from Ikea. The telephone picture is no longer available, but the Solmyra (I call it Shhh) is sold at most Ikea stores.

2. Task Lighting. The rooms here are DARK! The ceiling lights do little more than cast a dull glow. My son loves to read in bed, so I will mount two of these Kvart wall lights above each night stand.

3. Malm Bed. Though the photo shows the white twin bed, it is also available in gray–which is what we will buy (eventually). Malm beds come with either a high or low headboard. We want the higher headboard so that he can lean against it comfortably.

4 and 5. Malm dresser and night stand. Ikea has several styles of dressers available in the Malm series, but my son only needs a small one.

6. Micke Desk. We love the Micke series! They are durable, yet cheap inexpensive. It’s the perfect desk for a small room. He will be getting his first computer in September, so this is a must have item.

7. Ikea PS magnet board. This is another must-have…simply because he requested it. This PS magnet board is an inexpensive way to display pictures, memos, or doodle ideas.

8. Snille desk chair. These Snille chairs are very affordable, and surprisingly comfortable. They come in several colors including basic black or white.

9. PS Vago chair. My son absolutely LOVES this Vago chair. He said that all it needs is a comfy pillow and he could sit in it for hours. I had trouble removing him from this chair on the showroom floor and felt kinda bad that I didn’t buy it immediately. Besides, doesn’t every teen boy need a “lounge” chair of his own? The chair comes in red, blue, yellow, black, and white.

Other Items

Some other items that I want to add are a picture rail, colorful frames, and the Bygel rail series.

I’d like to throw in one or two of these, but that might be pushing it a bit…

Welcome to the second post in the series: Turning Drab Army Housing Into Our Home! As noted in the series introduction and the first posting of this series, I am a coffee fanatic and am lucky to have the perfect area for a Coffee Station. Here is my first general draft drawn up on my Galaxy Note.

As much as I would love to hide or move the water cooler, it must stay for two reasons: 1) There is nowhere else to move it that makes sense. 2) We use this water for making coffee and tea and for hydration. I am looking into some creative ways to at least “hide” the ugliness. You can read more about my ideas for the water cooler here.

Notice that my Idea drawing said “Wallpaper?” WELL…I couldn’t find any of that removable wall paper that was either cheap affordable or in my style. I am seriously trying to avoid painting, but after taking over 60 photos of this area, I realize that it NEEDS more panache. Therefore, I will consider this space almost finished.

Organizing the Coffee Station:

I used Ikea’s Grundtal Kitchen shelving system instead of a separate shelf and hook system because it offers more versatility.

Grundtal Wall Shelf

The hooks are Fintorp hooks. I used these because they will not come off without unscrewing the Grundtal rails and the hooks have a sort of knob at the tip–which prevents the cups from falling off easily.

Fintorp Hook

Grundtal Also has great storage add-ons for the shelf system

Grundtal Hanging Containers

One of the things I love most about this area is the storage!

Here is the Coffee Station Cabinet–I hope it stays this organized!

Top Shelf in the Cabinet

Bottom Shelf

Loving the Organization

I purchased these Krus storage containers at Ikea as well, but they are only available (as far as I can tell) at the Ikeas in Europe. They feature removable dividers and come in 3 sizes. As you know from my Family Command Center post, I LOVE organization!

Which brings me back to my Grundtal storage containers–which by the way feature an airtight seal…

Coffee Beans & Tea

Adding Style:

These lovely airtight containers store our loose leaf teas.

Pretty Storage for Loose Leaf Tea

And these lovely ladies are for brewing that perfect pot of tea.

Blue Ceramic and Brown Betty Tea Pots

It took me a few days to figure out where to put the sweeteners for tea and the coffee filters…but then I remembered that I had this cute little basket in my bedroom.

Storage Basket

It was important that the cups we use every day were readily accessible–Hence the hook system.

Hooked on Coffee

Yup, those are Ikea cups…50 Cent Euro each 🙂

Magical Machines:

And now for the magical machinery that makes my addiction possible.

The Magical Machines

Because the only outlet in this area is a 220, we had to buy a new coffee machine, water boiler, and coffee grinder. I prefer a mill, but can’t spend the 89 Euro just now. So, the tiny grinder that you see peeking behind the coffee maker is our temporary solution.

I LOVE this coffee maker! If you a photographic memory, you noticed that the coffee maker in the first photo of this post was black and red. So what happened? A teenage boy, a ball, and a dog. Yup. The boy somehow managed to shove my coffee maker off of the counter and it slammed against the Command Center wall. After that…it didn’t work. So, we bought this one. And the bonus is that we now have two carafes! For some unknown reason the carafe was not inside the coffee maker when the boy had his little spaz moment.

So there you have it, my Coffee (& tea) Station! Simple, practical, and down right awesome*!

*Not tooting my horn–I am just so excited to have this in my kitchen!

Coffee Station Reveal

Cost Analysis

Now come on over and enjoy a hot cup of java or a lovely pot of tea with me in my little sitting room.

Welcome to the first post in the series: Turning Drab Army Housing Into Our Home! As noted in the series introduction, one of my priority tasks was to turn a blank hallway wall into a practical and usable space that will keep my family organized and on task.

As you may know if you’ve been following my blog, I have two teenagers, two dogs, and a very busy husband and I have ADHD (also know as forgetful). I will be attending intense 5 week courses through the University of Maryland soon and I’ve just picked up a part-time job on post. Life is about to become chaotic again–Yay! No, really–I’m happy about that!

As it is now, the kids bicker about chores–who did what and when (so does the hubby), so I spent hours cataloging the various chores that need to be done around here and created an amazing (at least I think so) spreadsheet. Here is what my first rough draft and testing center looked like for about a month. It worked out very well, so I decided to forge ahead and finish the project.

I spent several more hours pondering what the space would like, what I needed to buy, and how I wanted the space to function.

I printed out my pages and slipped them into plastic page protectors and then taped them to the wall. It worked out well for a test run.

Because I live in Germany now, and am not familiar with the best places to shop, I ordered almost everything that I needed online. Some of the following images are links to the items that I purchased online (photos that are links are noted).

I printed out my final spreadsheets and framed them. I use a wet erase marker to write on the glass. Each Sunday, they get erased and I change the dates, notes, and menus.

8.5″ by 11″ Frames Opens Link in new tab To Product information at Target.com

We are a family of “fairsies” so this requires alternating kitchen duty. I know that I have kids and most people with teens assign kitchen duty strictly to the kiddos, but we are all very busy (well maybe not me right now) and feel that taking turns lessens the burden. So, I came up with this chart.

4″ by 6″ Frames Links to Product information at Walmart.com

The kids only argue when they together, so they have been paired with a parent. It’s working out very well.

And because I am a control freak by nature, I also create a task list for kitchen duties and a monthly task list.

Organization to the Extreme

After most of my products arrived and a trip to Ikea, I laid everything out on the floor along the Command Center wall.

I purchased the dry erase calendar and wet/erase markers (which I prefer) at my local PX (it’s like a target).

After taking care of sick kids and getting over the bug, I finally started mounting everything to the wall.

I’m going to share the OOPS moment with you so that you don’t make the same mistakes!

I mounted all of the frames to the wall using a level to make sure the frames were all very straight. I wanted a unified look, so I installed them flush against one another.

It was going to look fabulous! Except that I forgot that the only way to insert the glass is to flex the frame corners! I could not get the glass in there if my life depended on it! So, back to the drawing board I went.

I needed a spacer so that each frame was lined up as exact as possible–because I’m a perfectionist.

The solution was a dvd case.

*Hubby and I were NOT born in the 80’s–we were born in the 70’s, and this dvd has some cool highlights that we both sort of remember and remember well.

Anyway, here is how I used my “spacer”

All that was left to do was fill in the frames, mount the calendar, and add a hanging file system and my Ikea finds.

Only one thing remains: A large hook for my purse that will be mounted under the files.

One project down, several more to go. Stay tuned for the finished Coffee Station project!

Like this:

I have a blogging dilemma. My blog is eclectic, because I am a woman of many interests.

Most of the blogs that I read are streamlined and focused on one general topic. There are blogs that give household tips, decor advice, and DIY tutorials. There are the blogs about travel which include plenty of information on travelling, adventures in new places, and are full of photos. Some writers have blogs that include writing tips, samples of their fiction, and poetry. Some bloggers simply write about life in general–what their thoughts are on local, national, and international events, humanity, society, and quips about daily life experiences.

Then there is my blog.

It doesn’t have one genre. I post furniture & decor projects, interior decorating that I’ve done to include home improvement. I post my musings, poetry, photography, scholarly writing and other various writing. I have just started sharing about my adventures of moving to and living in Germany and will be posting a lot of travel related writing. I post about life–big and little moments.

I came across a post from The Daily Post’s “Blogging 201” series the other day. Blogging 201, Day One: Set Three Goals encourages the blogger to “consider what you want to accomplish with your blog.”

When I first started my blog, my intentions were to share my writing and musings. Then I began posting my DIY home improvement projects, furniture makeovers, and various crafts. It has grown into an eclectic mess.

Do I simply leave it as is? Should I have two or three different blogs?

Like this:

One of the primary reasons that we chose this house was the Master Suite. From the window of the bedroom and bathroom we could see Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak.

The hubby was deployed one month after we moved in. So while he was gone, I decided to get busy on turning this house into our home.

I tackled the master suite first. I wanted him to have a retreat from the Army world and created a space that felt like a room in one of those spa vacation hotels. Well, that’s what it felt like to us.

A Corner For Entertainment

The most difficult task in this room was finding a spot for the TV and stereo. The TV was for my benefit while hubby was either deployed, working nights, or away for training.

A Place for Liberty–Our Dog

I was happy that we had this empty corner because our dog, Liberty, loves to sleep in corners.

Bed Fit for Royalty

Though hubby hates excess pillows, he often laid down on this bed–just as it is in this picture–and fall asleep. His intentions were to just rest for a moment, but he would inevitably end up taking an hour long nap.

A Grand Entry

I hung these drapes in order to create not only privacy, but also to add some drama to an otherwise boring open entry into the bathroom.

Speaking of the bathroom…I miss my huge tub!

Master Bathroom–I think it’s referred to as the ensuit?

That candle sconce in the upper left corner is mounted on the wall just above the bathtub. I meant to install a dimmer switch eventually, but never got around to it because I enjoyed the candle light instead.

Of all the rooms at Pennington House, I miss the Master suite the most. Perhaps someday, after the Army is done with us, we will return.